MKIV VRS Upgraded Audio

[wardth]

Has anybody done a sensible upgrade to the speakers, added an amp and a sub yet?

 

Given Canton is not available (lets not get into the validity or otherwise of that solution), there must be a market for a reasonably priced upgrade? Maybe Focal (or similar) speakers, a neat sub in one of the side areas of the boot - 8" woofer (not a 10" or 12") and a five channel amp?

 

I know there will be owners who go the whole hog, but for the vast majority of people, a system that doesn't contravene local arms limitations would be nice 🙂

 

[Felix2021]

Some people did it.

I got Focal ISVW 165 to the front, and 155 to the back + added Axton A592DSP amplifier. Very, very pleased with how it sounds now, with no need for the sub at all. Bas is deep, powerfull enough and extremely well controlled. However those speakers are 2 Ohm, which you don't like

Sounds definitely better than Canton. Actually sound better than Maridian in my nephew's 2016 Jag XF.

You could also go with higher speaker model, like Flax or K2 from Focal. I actually recommend Focals, cause i like their "house sound"

[wardth]

On 21/02/2023 at 08:09, Felix2021 said:

Some people did it.

I got Focal ISVW 165 to the front, and 155 to the back + added Axton A592DSP amplifier. Very, very pleased with how it sounds now, with no need for the sub at all. Bas is deep, powerfull enough and extremely well controlled. However those speakers are 2 Ohm, which you don't like

Sounds definitely better than Canton. Actually sound better than Maridian in my nephew's 2016 Jag XF.

You could also go with higher speaker model, like Flax or K2 from Focal. I actually recommend Focals, cause i like their "house sound"

The Axton sounds interesting - vehicle specific wiring?

[Felix2021]

Yes, plug and play.

Actually Focals are also almost plug and play, just need change of plstic part of the plug. No need for spacers etc.

Together they sound very good, but of course with better speakers it can be better

[wardth]

16 hours ago, Felix2021 said:

Yes, plug and play.

Actually Focals are also almost plug and play, just need change of plstic part of the plug. No need for spacers etc.

Together they sound very good, but of course with better speakers it can be better

Tell me more - where have you located the amp and does it require any wiring cutting / changes whatsoever?

[Felix2021]

Amp located behind glovebox, between steel frame of the dashboard and side of the car.

Not a single wire was cut during installation of both amp and speakers. Everything just works.

Although one thing requires some work. If you plug the amp directly, you will get speaker open circiut error in 5F module (however everything works). If you want to get rid of an error, you need dummy load. You can either solder resistors directly to Axton's harness, or buy load simulator from Axton and connect it between the amp and harness. HOWEVER this simulator only works for rear speakers by default, so you need to solder additional 2 resistors to it.

[MP1983]

I got only the fronts replacing the stock ones with a pair of Eton POW 160.2 - they required the cap (2.2uF) to be replaced with a larger value of 6.8uF (MKT as PP ones won`t fit behind the panel) and did minor adjustments to the equalizer - very happy with result. Running on stock unit. Woofers are 3 ohms DCR but HU seems ok with that and no errors.

 

BTW - the 6.5" adapters are those for the Golf MK6 (credit to DutchVRS) and installing them is a piece of cake.

Edited 9 March, 2023 by MP1983